DOT Ramming More Bike Lanes Down East Side's Throat!

Is there no rest from the jack booted tyranny of bicycle lanes?! Despite earnest objections from right-leaning columnists and litigious NIMBY scolds, the DOT is steamrolling ahead with a plan to extend bike lanes up First and Second Avenues. Although Community Board 6 voted to approve this section of the project [pdf], which runs from 34th Street to 59th Street, bike lane "zealot" Janette Sadik-Khan has flagrantly disregarded the opinion of the local tabloids, and nothing will stop her from ramming her "traffic calming" initiative down the appreciative throats of community leaders, pedestrians, and cyclists.

This is a continuation of a Select Bus and traffic calming project which started last year on First and Second Avenues, which now have dedicated bike paths separated from traffic from Houston Street to 34th Street. The DOT will now extend the protected bike path on First Ave up to 49th Street, at which point they're shoving in a shared bike lane up to 59th Street. Over on Second Avenue, there will be a shared bike lane from 59th down to 34th. Also coming down the East Side's throat? "Bus bulbs"; little curb extensions that enable the Select Buses to pick up new passengers without pulling over to the side of the street.

But of course the radical bike lobby won't rest there! They want bike lanes all the way up to 125th Street, at which point the DOT will no doubt tear up the streets and build an elevated bike Skyway running over a meadow of opium poppies all the way to up to Inwood Park. And the bike freaks are loving it—Transporation Alternatives says First Avenue saw a 153 percent increase in bicycling since the lane was originally installed. Their numbers are growing, and once the DOT's bike lane battle system is fully operational, there will be no peace anywhere in the galaxy. Help us, Steve Cuozzo, you're our only hope!